A Tango With Destiny
by KiraChan44
Summary: Sequel to A Tango With Death. Kira must save Gaara from the Akatsuki while protecting her family and her friends from meeting similar fates. Then, when things seem to be peaceful again, her best friend disappears as the Akatsuki close in on the jinchuuriki, and the start of the next Great Ninja War looms ever closer. Can Kira protect those she loves from terrible fates? GAAXOC


**A Tango With Destiny**

"_It's been a long time coming  
__And the table's turned around  
__'Cause one of us is going  
__One of us is going down  
__I'm not running,  
__It's a little different now  
__'Cause one of us is going  
__One of us is going down"_

**Chapter 1: You're Going Down (Sick Puppies)**

"Lady Kazekage!" I turn as one of Suna's ANBU bursts into my home. "You and the children need to come with me." The person behind the hawk mask sounds frantic, but with no facial expression to judge by I can't be sure.

Then an explosion echoes in the distance and the Kazekage building shudders slightly, dust floating down slowly from the ceiling. I glance out the window and see a giant white bird flapping lazily in the night sky, a lone figure upon its back. Across from him, Gaara's arms are crossed defiantly as he floats on his sand in the air.

"Please Lady Kazekage! Kazekage-sama has ordered that I take you and the children to the safe hold beneath the building." The masked ANBU looks at me, urgency in his voice.

I make a decision in that moment; one that I hope won't negatively affect my children. "You take the children down to the stronghold with Ayami. I'm suiting up and joining the battle."

"But… Kira-sama!" The man in the ANBU masks begins, but at a look from me he wisely shuts up.

"Go now!" I hiss, my blue eyes flashing coldly.

"Yes Ma'am." Hawk Mask bows stiffly, and then disappears quickly.

I grab my black spandex shorts and a black tank top from my bureau and dress quickly. I attach my pouch of ninja tools to my left leg, making sure my chakra blades are also in place. I leap out the window, running up the side of the building and skidding to a stop next to Kankuro on the roof.

"Kira! You're supposed to be with the children!" Kankuro howls at me as soon as he sees me.

"That is my husband fighting up there, and I will help him if at all possible." I say through clenched teeth while I scowl at Kankuro.

"Gaara is going to have my head for this…" Kankuro mutters, but he says nothing more on the subject.

"Tell me what's going on." I snap.

"Black cloaks with red clouds… I think we are being attacked by the Akatsuki. That blonde guy on the bird has some sort of explosive he's been using to attack." Kankuro says grimly as he watches Gaara battle in the sky.

Gaara's sand chases the blonde Akatsuki member as his white bird flies frantically to stay out of reach of Gaara's sand. The bird dives towards the ground and then levels out, flying along the streets. Gaara directs sand to come around from the front, hoping to catch the man off guard, but his bird artfully dodges and takes flight high into the sky yet again.

"Gaara!" I holler as I begin to pull water out of the air. I haven't used this water jutsu in a long time.

"You're supposed to be with the kids." Gaara says, his voice tight with concentration as he continues to manipulate the sand so that it chases the man on the bird.

He flies over us, making everyone on top of the Kazekage building duck. "So you have a family then?" The blonde man mocks before laughing. "That makes this a much more interesting fight. To think that a jinchuriki like you has children? What is the world coming to?"

"You shut up!" I shout, throwing a kunai at the bird as it swoops overhead again. My weapon lands in the soft flesh of the bird, but it continues flying without even a screech of pain. The blonde man cackles as he urges the bird to fly higher. I unleash the water I had gathered, and this chases after the bird as Gaara's sand does.

"Interesting, you have similar jutsu." The man says as he dodges sand and water. "Still, you two are no match for me."

"You're going to eat those words…" I mutter as Gaara makes Shukaku's arm out of the sand. The blonde man takes to the skies again as the claws made of sand snatch at him and barely miss. He dodges the claws again and then dives towards Gaara. The sand from Gaara's gourd leaps to his defense, but the blonde man makes a U-turn and back peddles before hovering in the air.

Suddenly, three white birds leap from the blonde man's hands and head straight for Gaara, each one exploding upon impact with his sand. I take this moment to make my water fly through the air. It spears through one of the bird's wings, but still it flies. "I almost forgot about you." The blonde man says as he smiles eerily at me and flies higher into the sky. He throws three more white birds, and Gaara moves his sand instantly to defend me.

"You defend yourself, I've got my water!" I shout at him as my water forms a protective barrier around Kankuro and me. The sand retreats and begins chasing the blonde man again as it forms into another of Shukaku's arms. It is quickly blown apart by one of the white birds. Gaara doesn't even flinch when one of the white birds hits his sand just feet away from him.

The blonde man continues dodging my water and Gaara's sand as he shoves his hands into the green pouches tied about his waist. He withdraws them seconds later, his hands clenched into fists. Another round of explosive birds burst from his hands, both of them heading straight for Gaara.

"They're faster this time." The blonde man says with a slight smile as the birds careen towards Gaara. They dodge around his sand effortlessly and explode before Gaara's sand has fully surrounded him.

"Gaara!" Kankuro and I shout at the same time. When the smoke clears a hardened ball of sand can be seen floating in the air, Gaara's third eye floating outside its protective shell. I sigh in relief, then smile as a tidal wave of sand begins closing around the blonde man.

"Sand Coffin." I whisper and Kankuro smirks at me.

"Looks like everything is going to be ok." He says.

"Just what you'd expect from the Kazekage." One of the ninja behind me says happily.

"Yeah. This village will be safe as long as we have Kazekage-sama." A second ninja replies.

I clear my throat and both ninja look at me apprehensively.

"And as long as we have Lady Kazekage." The second ninja amends. I smile at him, and he sighs in relief.

"Wait!" Kankuro says, his smirk melting into a frown.

An explosion bursts from the hardened ball of sand containing the blonde man, and he tumbles from the sand, a smirk on his face. His triumph is short lived however, as Gaara's sand grabs hold of one of the mans legs and launches him back into the sky. It flips him at his prison, and the sand opens like a mouth ready to swallow him whole. The man throws another white hunk of explosives, this time turning it into an owl that catches him. He narrowly escapes the gaping maw of sand as he flies off, a tendril of Gaara's sand chasing him.

"You fool." Kankuro says as the ball of sand that was meant to crush the blonde man crumbles apart to begin chasing him again. "Do you honestly think you can escape Gaara's sand?"

Finally the sand latches onto the blonde man's left arm. He sends an explosive caterpillar to wind its way along the rope of sand that has him caught up to the shoulder. The caterpillar explodes, but to no avail. With a grotesque squelch the sand crushes the man's hand and arm, and still the sand doesn't let go. The man is now tethered to Gaara by sand, no matter how many aerial tricks he tries to pull.

"Yeah!" The ninja cry happily, waving their arms.

"It's not done yet." I mutter as I send my water into the sky yet again.

The blonde man pulls mightily and breaks away from the sand holding him. My water chases him higher up and he sends out another explosive bird, this time it flies straight for me. I direct the water to form a wall in front of me and the bird smashes against it and explodes, sending droplets of water cascading over everything like rain. I growl and feel a prickle in my eyes.

"Oh no you don't." I mutter, closing my eyes briefly to get my emotions under control. The beast inside me quiets reluctantly.

"You ok Kira?" Kankuro asks, glancing at me.

"Yeah, I'm fine." I reply as I revert my attention to the battle my husband is currently fighting.

"That son-of-a-bitch is lucky he escaped Gaara's sand." Kankuro mutters darkly as he glares at the blonde man. He holds a white object in his only hand, cradling it against his chest. I see his mouth move as he mutters some words, but I can't make them out from this distance.

"Kankuro, Kira." We both turn to look at Baki, his face dark with concern.

"What is it?" Kankuro asks.

"Gaara is using even his ultimate defense sand in this fight. I think it's safe to assume that the enemy is a formidable one. For the time being, we need to consider that Gaara could lose control." I glare at Baki, but he continues on anyway. "We need to be ready in case Shukaku appears. The villagers will be in danger."

Kankuro smirks at Baki. "That won't happen any more. Gaara will not harm the people of this village."

"Especially not me or the children." I put in, glaring fiercely at Gaara's old squad leader. I turn my back on him and my water races through the sky as it begins chasing the intruder again.

"Convene all members for an emergency meeting." Baki commands.

"Yes sir!" I hear a ninja reply before I hear him scurry away. I turn and look over my shoulder as Baki issues another command. "You secure the reservoir. Take two units with you!" He commands another ninja.

"Yes sir!" He too dashes away as he rushes to carry out his orders.

"Seal off the roads in sector A!" A third ninja rushes off with his orders. "We must not assume he is alone. No matter what happens, maintain preparations for battle. We must be ready to respond!" He walks off as he continues issuing orders.

Kankuro and I exchange a look, and then I go back to concentrating on my water as it works in tandem with Gaara's sand, trying to trap the blonde man. I can see out of the corner of my eyes all the ninja assembling to protect the village. They draw their weapons as they approach their assigned locations. I smirk at the man as he dodges once again.

My face falls when the white object he's cradling flies into the air and expands, becoming a huge white ghost-looking thing. It falls towards the village at an alarming rate.

"We need to evacuate that section of the village!" I say frantically, turning to Baki.

"There's no time." He says, as he stares up in shock and dismay as the white explosive hurtles towards the village.

The bomb stops ten feet from the top of one of the buildings and it lights up the sky with a fierce yellow orange light. I cover my eyes in the crock of my elbow. "Oh god." I whisper in defeat. Then comes the deafening boom, the shockwave knocking me back a step and making my ears ring. When the light dies down I stare up at the sky in relief. Gaara's sand has protected the village.

"Oh, thank god." I mutter as my frantically beating heart calms slightly.

Cheers rise up from the village as the villagers realize that Gaara's sand had come to the rescue. I look up and watch as Gaara and the blonde man stare each other down in the sky. I can tell the battle is wearing Gaara down. He is panting from the amount of chakra he'd needed to use to lift up and harden the barrier of sand that had protected the village.

"Gaara watch out!" I scream as one of the blonde man's flying white birds flies around the backside of the sphere of sand protecting my husband. He sees the bird almost as soon as I do, and his sand races to cover the hole in his sphere. The white bird explodes, and I scream in panic.

"Gaara!" Kankuro shouts from his position beside me.

As the smoke clears I can see that Gaara's spherical defense is whole once more. "He made it." I sigh in relief, wiping my brow with the back of my arm. This battle was wearing thin on my nerves. I was afraid for Gaara, the children, and myself. Worry plagued the back of my mind as the battle dragged on. Gaara was normally able to wrap up fights relatively quickly, especially when I was helping, but the fact of the matter is that my water is nowhere near as fast as Gaara's sand, so although my water was able to give chase, I was never going to catch this man unless Gaara cornered him into my water, which was extremely difficult because of how fast the blonde man's birds are.

"Lord Baki! The preparations for battle have been completed." A young man says as he scurries over to us.

"All right! Attack all together when I give the signal." Baki replies as he glances up at Gaara again.

The archers on the ballista line up their shots, the giant bows drawn tight as they ready to fire.

A loud boom echoes throughout the village, and when I look up, Gaara's sand sphere contorts as it's rocked by an explosion from the inside.

"Gaara!" I scream, and Baki only just manages to hold me back from charging off.

"Lady Kazekage, you'll be all the village has, all your _children _have. You cannot rush off."

"But Gaara… he's…" Tears prick my eyes as the sand shield slowly begins to disintegrate around Gaara. I can tell from my position that he was protected by the sand that he coats his body with as a shield, however the sheer force of the blast has still knocked him unconscious.

"What the hell happened?" Kankuro questions before calling Gaara's name loudly.

I watch in horror as the blonde man flies towards Gaara. However, Gaara's eyes open and a small sense of relief passes through me. He wasn't dead. With what appears to be a lot of effort, Gaara begins moving the sand shield he had thrown up to protect the village from being leveled.

"He's draining the last of his energy to keep the village from being damaged." Kankuro mutters as he watches the sand slowly retreat.

"We have to save him!" I cry, trying to tear myself out of Baki's grip.

"Commence attack!" Baki orders, and everyone immediately leaps up.

"Fire!" Arrows stream from the ballistae as they fly towards the blonde man. He dodges the arrows easily, and I can see the smirk that crawls across his face. When it becomes obvious that normal arrows aren't going to land a hit, they start launching arrows with paper bombs attached, but still the blonde man manages to dodge them.

"Gaara, hang in there just a little bit longer." Kankuro mutters as the sand begins clearing the outer wall of the village.

Gaara lets the sand drop on the other side of the wall surrounding the village, and cheers rise up.

"He did it." Kankuro says in relief.

"Let me go to him now." I say, struggling more fiercely against Baki.

"It's still not safe, Lady Kazekage." Baki mutters.

"Then you go to him Kankuro!" I say in exasperation.

"We have that guy on the run, Gaara will be okay." Kankuro says to me, and I want to scream in frustration.

"He's passing out again!" I screech at the two of them and they both turn to look into the sky again. "Let me go help him!"

Before Baki or Kankuro do anything however, the blonde man swoops in on his owl and catches Gaara with the owl's tail feathers. I renew my efforts to get away from Baki as he continues holding me by the arms. "Let go of me! We need to get Gaara back!" I say as tears stream down my face.

"Baki, you take Kira back home and bring the children to her. I'm going after my brother." Kankuro says as he watches the blonde man fly back towards the desert.

Another arrow form one of the ballistae goes off and I scream in a panic. "You're going to hit Gaara!" I am hysterical; a member of the Akatsuki is carrying off my husband, a dangerous organization that wanted the jinchuriki.

"Cease fire!" Baki orders and soon the village is ringing with people shouting cease-fire to one another. "What in the world is he after?"

"It's the Akatsuki organization. There's only one thing they're after." I say as tears stream faster down my face. "They want the bijuu. The one inside of Gaara, and the one inside of Naruto…" _And the ones in Takai and me as well… _I think as an afterthought.

Finally Kankuro dashes off. "I won't let him get away!"

"Kankuro! Don't run off carelessly! Wait until we can get a unit together!" Baki says, but he's unable to do anything as Kankuro dashes off. Keeping me from bolting off didn't leave Baki with any hands to restrain Kankuro.

"We'll lose them if we just sit around!" Kankuro hollers angrily.

"Fine. Wait for me, I'll catch up in a minute. Don't follow them on your own!" Baki commands.

"Yeah, I know!" Kankuro shouts before he really starts running as he chases the blonde man down.

* * *

A full day. That's how long it's been since Gaara was taken away, and how long it's been since anyone has heard from Kankuro. There were already whisperings from the council about selecting a new Kazekage so that Suna wouldn't look weak, and I was being forced to sit in on one such meeting.

"If we don't reinstate a new Kazekage, other nations will attack us in our moment of weakness." One of the elders says, his eyes watching me with contempt as I sit at the head of the table with my arms crossed.

"Let's not be hasty. For all we know, Kankuro is still tracking Lord Kazekage's captors." Another one puts in.

"Do we really want to risk the safety of the village by waiting?"

"Enough!" I say loudly, standing up and throwing my hands on the table. "I'm sick and tired of listening to all of you bicker! It's only been twenty-four hours. We've sent our fastest hawk to Konoha asking for aid. Let's see if this gets us anywhere. If it doesn't, then you may start talking about instating a new Kazekage. But not before we know for sure that my _husband _won't be coming back." Tears of anger and sadness slide silently down my cheeks as I storm out of the room.

"Mommy?" Miyuki looks at my crying face with wide eyes. Mizuki also looks surprised to see me so distraught, and he clutches Ai's hand tighter.

"It's ok guys, Mommy's fine." I whisper as I kneel and pull my three children to me for a hug. The twins were almost seven now, and Ai has just turned four. She was a gift that was given to us in a moment of unbridled passion when Gaara couldn't deny us the physical intimacy we so craved any longer.

Ai was small for a four year old, with red hair and blue green eyes with yellow flecks, just like her brother and sister. Now that the twins were older, their canines were growing in longer than normal, another influence from Gobi no doubt. I didn't expect their teeth to grow as long as mine, or as long as Kiba's, but longer than most average people. And, like Gaara, dark rings had formed around their eyes when the twins had been about four. Gaara had become afraid for a while, insisting that all the research he'd done showed that the influence of the father's bijuu never manifested in the kids. It had taken him weeks to come to terms with what had happened between us and Shukaku again. He insisted that the rings were because Shukaku had somehow put a little bit of himself in the twins.

"I miss Daddy." Ai says as tears pool in her eyes.

"I know, I do too." I sigh.

"When is he coming home?" Miyuki asks.

"I don't know. Some very bad men have him right now, and Mommy's trying very hard to find him so I can bring him home." I say as more tears threaten to spill from my eyes.

"I'll take care of the girls Mom. You find Dad." I turn to look at Mizuki. His eyes are grim, but he also looks determined to be strong for all of us. I can tell he's starting to grow up. Instead of cute and childish _Mommy _and _Daddy,_ we were just Mom and Dad. I was afraid that this whole fiasco was going to force him to grow up faster than he already was as the Kazekage's son.

"I've done all I can for today. Let's go see what Ayami is making for dinner." I say as I pick up Ai and grab Miyuki's hand. A little tug on my waistband lets me know that Mizuki is still only six as he clutches at me with a tight fist. We walk slowly back to our home, a mother surrounded by children, with no father coming home.

* * *

"You're late!" Naruto says angrily as Kakashi slowly walks over to us.

"Finally, you're here…" Sakura puts in, hands on her hips.

"Will you guys quit complaining? At least he showed up." I say, crossing my arms and scowling at my two new teammates.

"Sorry about that." Kakashi says, rubbing the back of his head. "This time it took longer than I thought to write up the documents for the new team."

"Today's our new team's first mission! Aren't you fired up?" Naruto interjects, though I'm quite happy that he isn't screaming like normal when he's upset about something. "You're always like this Kakashi-sensei."

"Oh, you're already annoying." Sakura says while covering her ears.

"You're both annoying." I say as I shift my weight from my left hip to my right.

"Takai, be nice to your new teammates." Kakashi says and I scowl at him too.

"Why do I even need to be on this team anyways?" I huff.

"Because we need a four man squad, and you didn't have one yet. I can switch you out for someone else if you'd prefer."

"No, I'm fine." I say grouchily.

A hawk screeches loudly as it flies over us and we all look up at it.

"Hey, isn't that…?" I mutter quietly. Kira was still my best friend, and she's sent me hundreds of letters over the years.

"What is it Takai?" Naruto asks.

"I think that hawk belongs to Suna." I say as the hawk flies into the Konoha messenger room. "I wonder if it's from Kira."

"We need to see Tsunade about our next mission, so you can check when we get there." Kakashi says before he starts heading for the Hokage tower.

* * *

"It's been so long since I've been on a mission, I can't wait!" Naruto says as we walk down the corridor to Tsunade's office.

"Naruto, accept the mission without complaint, no matter what we're ordered to do." Sakura says as she glares at him out of the corner of her eye.

"I know."

"I hope so…" Kakashi mutters.

"It's not like Tsunade would give us a C or D rank mission anyways." I say just before a Cipher Corps woman nearly plows though us as she dashes off down the hall.

"I wonder what happened." Sakura says as she stares at the woman's retreating back.

"I have a bad feeling about that messenger hawk." I mutter.

"Hey, watch where you're going!" Naruto says angrily, brandishing his fist.

When we get to Tsunade's office, much to my disbelief, she tries assigning us a C rank mission, at best. I stare at her dumbfounded, my jaw nearly on the floor.

"What?" Naruto says angrily. "A guard for a gold bullion transport convoy?"

"You got a problem with that?" Tsunade asks snarkily as she glares at Naruto.

"That's totally a C rank mission! I'll just have to say no thanks to a mission like that…"

"For once, I agree with Naruto." I say as I cross my arms angrily and glare at the Hokage.

Tsunade switches from glaring at Naruto and I to giving Shizune a particularly scathing look. _Ah, she must have been the one pushing for a lower ranked mission. _I think to myself as Shizune grins wearily.

"Naruto, you haven't matured mentally at all, have you?" Iruka says as he clutches at his head as if he has a headache already.

"Naruto. I gave you an easier mission since this is more or less a comeback for you…" Tsunade begins, but Naruto soon interrupts her.

"I didn't ask for this!"

"I'm sorry, Tsunade-sama!" Sakura says as she punches Naruto in the head and holds him down. "I'll give him a good scolding later."

"Can't you guys do anything without fighting?" I ask as I roll my eyes heavenward.

"The details of the mission are listed here." Tsunade holds out a piece of paper and I move to take it.

"Geez, the old man Third Hokage was much more understanding…" Naruto says as he glares at Tsunade from the chokehold Sakura has on him.

"Huh? Did you say something?" Tsunade asks angrily.

"Hey! Knock it off!" Sakura says as she begins beating on Naruto again.

Just as I'm about to take the mission sheet, the Cipher Corps woman bursts into Tsunade's office and runs to her desk. "There's trouble Hokage-sama!"

"What all the commotion about?" Tsunade asks. I stand there dumbfounded, as I see the look of anxiety on the woman's face.

"That was a hawk from Suna, wasn't it?" I butt in. "Is it Kira? The children? Are they safe?" I ask in quick-fire succession.

The woman glances at me, but aside from that she pays no attention to me. "There's an emergency message from Suna."

"Huh, Suna?" Naruto asks as he quickly becomes serious.

"Did you say emergency message?" Tsunade asks.

"What's happened to my friend?" I growl out, my eyes flashing dangerously.

"This is what we have deciphered so far." The woman hands a sheet of paper over to Tsunade who takes it and reads it quickly.

"What?" A trace of outrage laces Tsunade's voice.

"What's happened over there?" I shout as I reach for the paper in Tsunade's hands.

"The Kazekage of the Hidden Sand has been taken by members of the organization called Akatsuki." Tsunade says as she stares at me seriously.

"Gaara…" Naruto says, his blue eyes wide with anger.

"Does it say anything about Kira, or their kids?" I ask.

"No."

"Damnit!" I clench my fists and stare at the ground, my body radiating anger.

"We have more information concerning the Akatsuki, so the Hidden Sand has officially requested our help." Tsunade says to Kakashi.

"Lady Tsunade! Don't tell me you're thinking about sending Team Kakashi!?" Shizune says, her voice panicked.

"This is a time of emergency. I can't be wasting time on personal selection. And besides, we've got someone here who's actually fought against the Akatsuki." Tsunade says in a tone that clearly says not to judge her decision.

"I understand that, but…"

"I will now issue Team Kakashi a new mission. Go to the Village Hidden in the Sand immediately, find out what's going on, and report back to the Leaf. After that you will follow the orders of the Hidden Sand and provide them with backup!" Tsunade says. Relief washes over me, knowing that I was going to be there to support my friend through what was going to be a very difficult time.

* * *

The rebuild of Suna's gates was in full swing now. The kids refused to let me out of their sight, so they accompanied me everywhere, including the inspection of the rebuild. They huddled around me like ducklings around momma duck and regarded everything with sad, sullen eyes.

"I'd like an update please." I say to one of the ninja overseeing the rebuild.

"Yes, Lady Kazekage. We've pulled most of the rubble from the bombs out of the walls. Ninja are still cleaning this out however, and we've only begun working on repairing the outer gate. We have to move cautiously as there are still many bombs that have not been triggered, requiring the bomb squad's assistance in making sure that the bombs are detonated safely."

"I see. Please contact the council or myself if you run into any problems."

"Yes Ma'am." The ninja turns from me and takes in the rebuild then walks off and talks to another ninja.

I gather the kids and start heading back towards the Kazekage tower. Those who are fully aware of the situation give the children and me sympathetic looks as we pass. A few of the more elderly villagers give us a wide berth, since Mizuki looks like a young Gaara, he receives more negative attention than the other two.

"Lady Kazekage!" I turn as Matsuri calls for me.

"Yes? What is it Matsuri?" I ask as the brown haired girl skids to a stop in front of me, her shoes kicking up a cloud of dust as they slide through the sand.

"They found Kankuro!" She pants as she clutches her knees and bends over to catch her breath.

"Where?"

"About a half a day from the village. He doesn't look good, they've taken him to the hospital."

"Thank you Matsuri. Please take Miyuki, Mizuki and Ai home. Stay with them until Ayami gets there. I'm going to the hospital." I say as I place Ai gently in her arms.

"I wanna go see Unckie Kankro…" Ai says as she looks up at me with big blue-green eyes.

"I know sweetie, but Uncle Kankuro's sick. Stay with Matsuri for now, okay?" I say, kissing her head. "Make sure Ai stays out of trouble you too." I say to the twins before kissing each of them as well and scurrying off.

I make it to the hospital in record time. "Where's Kankuro and what's his status?" I ask the first nurse I see. She takes one look at my snarling face and involuntarily takes a step back.

"He's in surgery right now, I'm not sure of his condition." She says, a slight tremor in her voice.

"Take me there. Now."

"Yes Kira-sama." I follow the nurse down one hall and then another. "He's in this operating suite here. Please wait outside. I'll page the doctor and let him know you're here." I take a seat and sigh in defeat as the nurse walks quickly away. I sit on the bench for what seems like hours, but can be no more than thirty minutes.

"Lady Kazekage." The doctor says, making me glance up from studying my hands that were neatly folded in my lap. His face was grim.

"Yes?" I ask, my voice too high from nerves.

"Kankuro was unconscious when he was brought in, however he has regained consciousness since being in the surgical suit. He has been poisoned by something we don't have the antidote for. It's a new toxin, and from the looks of it, Kankuro might not make it." The doctor's eyes are grave as he looks down at me.

"I'd like to see my brother-in-law now, please." I say as tears prick at my eyes.

"Of course Lady Kazekage."

I stand up and walk into the operating suite. Kankuro has bandages around part of his chest, and he glistens with sweat as his body tries in vain to fight off the toxin. "Hello there brother of mine." I say as I take Kankuro's hand and squeeze it lightly.

"Kira." His voice is almost a breathy whisper, and he clears his throat. "I'm sorry I…"

"Shhh, you don't need to say sorry." I interrupt, squeezing Kankuro's hand tighter. "Thank you for trying, that's more than I can ask for." A tear escapes my eyes and travels down my cheek to splash against Kankuro's too hot skin.

* * *

"How is he today?" Baki enters Kankuro's room, and walks to his side.

"He's worse than yesterday." I whisper. I haven't left Kankuro's side since I was allowed into the room the previous day. The kids had come in once this morning, one at a time, to give Kankuro a kiss and words of comfort before Ayami took them home again. It was nearing dinnertime now, and Kankuro was fading in and out of consciousness much of the time.

"Baki… Is that you…?" Kankuro asks, his eyes unfocused from the poison.

"Yes Kankuro." Baki leans closer so Kankuro can focus on his face.

"It's… It's him…" I squeeze Kankuro's hand as he tries to get the words out. "The red sand…" Baki leans in closer so his ear is almost touching Kankuro's lips. "It's Sasori of the Sand…"

Baki leaps back in surprise, his eyes wide. _Who's Sasori? _I wonder to myself as I take in Baki's look of shock.

"I see. So that explains it." Baki says, his face darkening.

"Who's Sasori?" I ask, but Baki stalks from the room, ignoring my question.

A few hours later, Baki returns, two elderly citizens at his side. "Lady Kazekage, this is Chiyo and Ebizo." Baki introduces.

"It's an honor." I say, standing and bowing to them.

"So you're the one who married the Shukaku. Funny, you've been in this village for several years and I still haven't seen your face before today." Chiyo says rather coldly as she appraises me with chilly eyes.

"I apologize. I had been told never to disturb you from your retirement." I say kindly, bowing yet again.

"Why they had to marry off the Shukaku to an outsider is beyond me." Chiyo huffs, clearly trying to get a rise out of me. I can tell she is studying my every move, so I carefully plan out my next few words.

"Gaara is not the demon that resides in his body. Gaara is his own person with his own feelings, hopes, and dreams, and I love him very much. Our marriage was to unite our two villages, so that our peace treaties would become stronger. I don't regret the decision I made to marry Gaara for one second." Chiyo regards me coolly, but doesn't respond, so I change the subject. "May we discus your concerns for my marriage at a later time in a more private setting? Right now, if there is anything you can do to help my brother, it would be greatly appreciated."

"He is not your brother." Chiyo states, and I really need to try to reign in my flaring temper.

"He may not be related by blood, but he _is _my brother by marriage, and I care about him deeply." I say. I get an approving look from Ebizo, but Chiyo seems less inclined to be appeased by anything I could say.

"Mommy?"

I look up to see Miyuki and Ai peeking from the doorframe.

"Who are they?" Ai asks, looking from Chiyo to Ebizo and back again.

"This is Chiyo and Ebizo, the honored siblings. Chiyo has come to see if she can make Uncle Kankuro feel better." I say, kneeling and holding my arms out. The two girls rush into my arms, while Mizuki trails in slowly, watching Chiyo and Ebizo carefully.

Chiyo stares rather coldly at the children, especially the twins. I know it's because they look so much like Gaara. Mizuki sees Chiyo's stare and glares back defiantly.

"Can you really make Unckie Kankro feel better?" Ai asks sweetly.

"I'll see what I can do." Chiyo says coolly as she walks over to Kankuro, giving Ai a dirty look. She studies Kankuro for several seconds, then turns to one of the attending doctors. "You checked his blood right?"

"Yes, please take a look at his charts." The doctor hands over a clipboard with all of Kankuro's vital information on it. Chiyo studies it for another few seconds as she analyzes the information there expertly.

"I've never seen composition like this before."

"Yes. We believe it might be a new type of poison." The doctor who handed the clipboard to Chiyo says quietly.

"Have you tried an antidote?" Chiyo asks next.

"Yes, we have tried using what we have, but none had any identifiable effects."

"I see…" Chiyo looks at Kankuro, her face slightly puzzled. "Ordinarily he would just finish the job… He must be very confident in his poison. Leaving his prey as is on purpose is just like Sasori."

"Who is Sasori?" Ai asks, always the inquisitive one.

"My grandson, and a rogue ninja of Suna." Chiyo says before ordering supplies for antidote creation to be brought to the room.

* * *

By the time morning rolls around, Chiyo is still trying to come up with an antidote. She puts a drop of the antidote she's just created onto the sealed poison and the antidote bursts into flame.

"This one didn't work either." She mutters, clearly at a loss.

"You haven't tried anything else?" Ebizo asks.

"We requested that a specialist team from Konoha to be dispatched. It would be best to wait for their arrival." I answer and Chiyo gives me an icy stare, while Baki nods his head in agreement.

"Talk about depending on others. This happened because you depend on alliances with other lands and conduct nothing but careless education." Chiyo says, a hint of venom in her voice.

"It is not… our intention to depend on others." Baki says, while giving me an apologetic look.

"I guess it can't be helped." Ebizo says as he stares at Kankuro's shivering body. "It's his fault for loosing his cool and pursuing too far. A shinobi is the last person who should do that."

"What's the point of trusting and being totally dependent on the likes of Konoha? Improving the strength of your own village should be your top priority. They are them, we are us." Chiyo gives me a scathing look as she says this last part. Clearly she thinks of me as being an outsider, even if I have been married to Gaara for over seven years. "Listen. An amicable alliance is nothing but a burning dream. At times like this, the most we can expect is for them to send some useless underlings for form's sake."

"Konoha would never do that!" I say, standing angrily and stalking over to Chiyo. "You don't know Konoha like I do, they are good people who don't like to see other villages suffer!" I cross my arms as I glare angrily at the old woman.

"Everyone looks out for themselves." Chiyo says stubbornly.

I glare at the woman, then collect my children and head for the door.

"Where are we going Mom?" Mizuki asks as we walk down the hospital hallway.

"To get some breakfast." I say as I steer them towards our home.

That evening when I get back to the hospital after settling the children in for the night and making sure Matsuri had everything she's need to keep an ear out for the children, Chiyo is checking Kankuro's vitals. I can tell he's worse. He's become deathly pale, struggles for breath, and the cold sweat and shivering has only increased as the poison destroys his cells.

"This is not good." Chiyo says, merely glancing at me as I walk into the room before ignoring me completely. "Poisons are my specialty, but even I can't figure this out."

"Even you, Lady Chiyo?" Baki asks, his voice grim.

"At best he has one day." Chiyo says.

"He might not even make it to dawn tomorrow." Ebizo puts in.

"That Sasori sure has grown considerably." Chiyo mutters.

"Please Kankuro, hold on just a little bit longer." I say as I take a seat next to him and grasp his hand once more. With Temari out of the village doing some ambassador work in Konoha for me, and Gaara taken by the Akatsuki, I only had Kankuro. Tears leaked out of my eyes, and I sniffled quietly as I wiped them away with the back of my hand. Ebizo looks at me sympathetically, but Chiyo is still frosty as ever towards me.

"What in the world should we do?" Baki asks angrily, frustrated by his inability to help Kankuro in any way.

"Well, the only one who might know more about antidotes than me would be the Leaf's slug princess, Tsunade. I had a lot of trouble with her in the Great War. She would decipher all the poisons I created and make antidotes for them. And now we're allies with the Leaf. All we can do is send for her and ask her to look at Kankuro."

"Tsunade is the Hokage of Konoha now." I say from my spot next to Kankuro. "Even is she were able to come, the journey from Konoha is three days. Kankuro doesn't have that much time." I say, my voice wavering pathetically on the last few words.

"I know. Nobody's seriously thinking of sending for her." Chiyo spits at me. "I don't like that slug girl anyway."

As the night wears on Kankuro's condition becomes even more critical. As the poison eats away at him, he calls out in pain, his body writhing on the bed. It hurts me to see Kankuro like this.

"Give him a sedative." One of the doctors says as Kankuro's writhing becomes particularly bad.

"Of course." They swab Kankuro's arm with antiseptic and then inject him with the sedative.

"I'm sorry Lady Kazekage, but all we can do now is ease his pain. Our only ray of hope is the Leaf shinobi who are scheduled to arrive tomorrow morning. If they have a poison specialist with them… If Kankuro can hold on that long of course."

Worrying over Kankuro helped me to not worry over Gaara. Having something equally as pressing as Gaara's situation to worry about brought my mind away from the possibility that Gaara could be dead, and refocused my attentions and energies on something I might actually be able to help with. I stayed with Kankuro every day, worrying over him. Though my mind did drift to Gaara constantly, I was able to mostly compartmentalize the pain of Gaara being taken away by the Akatsuki so I could deal with the fact that Kankuro was slowly dying. He had no one here aside from me. Temari was gone, presumably on her way back to the village, but no one could say for sure. For Kankuro's sake I hope she and the Konoha ninja arrived soon.

"The road from the Leaf is currently impassable due to a sandstorm. In the worst case they could arrive several days late." Baki says, his mouth set in a grim line.

"If that happens, then it's hopeless." One of Kankuro's doctors says, looking down in defeat.

"This is pathetic… I can't believe the day has come where we have to rely on the aid of the Leaf." Chiyo says in defeat. I glare at her from my position next to Kankuro.

"Aren't you tired Big Sister?" Ebizo asks, gently taking Chiyo's elbow. "Let's have a seat outside. You haven't had a wink of sleep since yesterday, right?"

"It's so sad, having to depend on the Leaf…" Chiyo says bitterly as Ebizo leads her from the room.

The hours tick by slowly, and even though I vow to stay awake with Kankuro, the lack of sleep over the past few days, the stress from losing Gaara and the possibility that we might lose Kankuro, I was drained, emotionally and physically.

"Kankuro!" Temari's shout startles me out of sleep, and I whip my head to look at her. Her eyes were wide with panic as she rushed into the room. Following her were Kakashi, Naruto, Sakura and… Takai.

"The White Fang of the Leaf! Prepare yourself!" Chiyo says venomously, leaping through the air to attack my friends and the rescue party we had been waiting for.

Fast as lightning, I draw the water out of my water skin that I had taken to carrying around again since the attack on Suna. It flows speedily towards Kakashi and Naruto, who had already made two shadow clones to defend his old sensei. My water creates a perfect shield in the doorway, allowing for no one to get in or out of the room. Naruto and his clones successfully block Chiyo's attack, and he stands, his fists raised in case he needs to protect himself.

"What do you mean by suddenly pouncing on Kakashi-sensei like that?" Naruto asks with an angry glint in his eye.

"I'll never forgive what you did back then." Chiyo says, ignoring Naruto and looking at Kakashi through my water shield. "White Fang of the Leaf, I shall avenge my son's death by defeating you today!"

"Er… No… You see I…" Kakashi starts, bewildered by Chiyo's sudden attack. Or he could be feeling particularly lazy at this point, who knows?

"No questions or answers!" Lady Chiyo barks as she gets ready to pounce once again.

Thankfully, Ebizo steps in, and blocks Chiyo from launching herself at Kakashi and my wall of water by putting a hand up to signal her to stop. "Big Sister, take a good look at him." Ebizo commands. "He resembles him closely, but this one is not the White Fang."

Lady Chiyo stares at Kakashi, confused.

"Uh… Hello." Kakashi says, putting a hand up in greeting.

"Moreover… The White Fang of the Leaf died long ago." Ebizo continues. "Remember? When you got word he died, you cried tears of regret since you could not avenge your son. Isn't that so Sis?"

"Oh yeah." Chiyo says airily. "I was just playing."

I roll my eyes at the old woman then turn to Sakura as my water shield returns to my water skin. "Is there anything you can do for Kankuro?" I ask.

"I'll do what I can Kira-sama. For now, could you please wait outside?" Sakura says, a sympathetic smile on her face.

"Yeah, of course." I say as I walk out of the room and the door clicks shut behind me.

"Oh Kira, I'm so sorry, we ran as fast as we could." Takai says, gathering me in her arms in an uncharacteristic hug.

"It's been four days…" I say, finally breaking down and really sobbing for the first time since that blonde guy too Gaara away from me, Ai, Miyuki and Mizuki.

"I know, we'll get him back, I promise." Takai says, patting my hair down my back as she holds me tightly to her.

"No matter what, I'm coming with you. I _will _be there when you get Gaara back." I say as Takai gently helps me sit on the bench just outside of Kankuro's room.

"Kira, I will stop at nothing to get Gaara back for you and the kids, I promise." Naruto says, kneeling in front of me and clasping my hands in his.

"Thank you Naruto." I whisper, tears still coursing fast down my cheeks. _Please Gaara, stay alive. For me. But most importantly, for our two daughters and our son._

**AN: So, I tried to make an extra long first chapter for the sequel since I took forever to post the last chapter to A Tango With Death. Tell me your thoughts, and as always, I'll try and update soon (hint, the more reviews I get the faster I am to update… usually. Sometimes life catches up to me for a while). Much love my friends.**


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